News

Five a Day Won’t Stop the Body Rusting Away Through Oxidation – but Antioxidants can Blast Those Free Radicals Way

The human body rusts in the same way that a bicycle does if it is left outside and unprotected from the rain. The oxygen in the air combines with the metal, and rust forms through a process called oxidation. This rusting process also occurs in every hour of every day in the human body. It […]

The human body rusts in the same way that a bicycle does if it is left outside and unprotected from the rain. The oxygen in the air combines with the metal, and rust forms through a process called oxidation.

This rusting process also occurs in every hour of every day in the human body. It does not matter what we do or where we are, oxidation is required by the human body to provide energy from the food we consume. Oxygen is a corrosive gas, and a by-product of the process of oxidation is the production of free radicals. This can create a number of problems, as the body’s natural immune system can be broken down.

Missing electron

Free radicals are formed through the metabolism of oxygen, where a missing electron creates a chain effect, leading to unstable molecules which multiply and begin a chain reaction that never ends. This is what happens in individual cells, causing a change in shape, or the cell to die or even mutate into a cancer cells.

The body has a built in system to balance free radicals, neutralising free radicals as well as repairing the damage they inflict on the body. The natural defence system is composed of antioxidants, of which the most prevalent is SOD (superoxidise dismutase). The second natural defence system comes from the food we consume that contains vitamins and minerals that the body can use. These nutrients fight free radicals and help repair and rebuild cells.

5 a day …..

The legendary 5 a day fruit and veg campaign in the UK was a great marketing success and has become a household phrase. However, reports claim we may have been duped: it is now considered to be out of date, and scientists now believe that eight portions of fruit and veg are more beneficial.

Vegetables offer some vitamins, but your body will be able to absorb these only if you add some fat, such as butter or olive oil.

Antioxidants – an electron donor.

They came to public attention in the 1990s in findings which showed, in some studies, that people with low levels of antioxidants were at greater risks from chronic conditions like cancer. This created mass hysteria in the media, even before the results of these trials were published, and was followed by the hype that green tea, frozen berries and the like claimed anti-carcinogenic powers.

The trials have not had the hoped-for results, meaning that no single substance can do the work of a whole crowd and, while research continues, we need to have more antioxidants in our diets to counter the oxidants that damage the body’s cells, either as a result of normal metabolic processes or as a reaction to environmental chemicals and pollutants. Modern life exposes our body to a wide variety of potentially damaging materials; reducing these, and increasing our levels of antioxidants, may improve our defences against free radicals.